By JUDITH NAMUTOWE  –
THE Zambia Cooperatives Federation (ZCF) has indicated that mealie-meal prices will reduce by 15 per cent this month once the cooperative starts buying maize from farmers.
ZCF director general James Chirwa said with the coming of 48 milling plants into the country, it was expected that a number of sites would be operational in Northern and parts of Muchinga provinces.
Mr Chirwa said with the coming of 48 milling plants, which were already in the country, bringing the number to 51, a major reduction in the prices of mealie-meal was expected by mid-January this year.
“Mealie-meal prices are expected to reduce further by 15 per cent considering that we will start buying maize directly from the farmers.
“A 25Kg bag of breakfast, which is currently fetching at about K95 in some parts of the country, will be costing K52. This means that people will be saving almost 50 per cent which can be used for other things,” he said.
Mr Chirwa said the federation was currently buying maize from the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), and expressed confidence that prices would change this year.
He said the development was worth appreciating by every citizen considering that people had been subjected to high mealie-meal prices for a long time.
About 2,000 milling machines for primary cooperatives are expected to be installed across the country following the sourcing of US$20 million by the federation.
This is aimed at transforming the milling industry in the country and so far, two plants have been installed in Kasama and one in Solwezi.